That's a 1478 nm round trip - at 11.84p UK per mile. Very cheap by today's short haul, major carrier, prices.

By co-incidence I was arranging a trip from MAN-SNN for relatives last night for very similar dates. This is a 546 mile round trip. The cheapest non stop is BA @ £UK140 per person, i.e. 25.64pUK per mile and Aer Lingus, with a change in Dublin, want £UK188 per person or 34.43pUK per mile - these are listed as Promotional Fares.

Two years ago Aer Lingus offered 2 for 1 fares on all UK-Ireland routes but, since joining One World they have been learning from BA asnd have dropped these- to the detriment of their long term customers and the glee of Ryanair who are picking up customers hand over fist.

No, flying domestic in the USA is not cheap. The six major oligopoly carriers or "Six Families" keep flying here much more expensive than it needs to be. Unless you're one of the Blessed 58 cities that has Southwest Airlines to hold them accountable. Other low-fare carriers can offer relief on individual routes, but generally only Southwest can effect a broad-based reduction in fares at a US city.

Now that we've had 10 years of management gouging us with unreasonably high fares to pay for excessively high shareholder expectations (and no one big enough to hold them accountable outside the Blessed 58) it promises to get worse. The employee unions seem to think they're entitled to massive raises that would get the remaining 99 percent of Americans laughed at.

But the market won't bear it, so their "charge of the light brigade" is pyhrric. The economy's softening. And the low-fare carriers keep growing....at least until superconsolidation happens and then maybe the oligopoly can destroy them. Time will tell.

You should keep in mind that Islip is pretty far out of the way of NYC. Its going to cost you a bunch to take a taxi out there, if you can get one to do it in the first place. Id really stick with LGA-ORD. LGA is much much closer to downtown NYC, and think about its this way. LGA-ORD is about $200+tax (majors)
Islip-MDW is about $185+tax (southwest)
but i garuntee you its gonna cost more than 15 bucks to go all the way to Islip, and its gonna be alot of extra time added to your trip. I would highly recommend taking the LGA-ORD

Flying in the US can be very cheap. I have to fly between Phoenix and Hartford 8-10 times a year and I have never paid more than $250 and this was on NW and CO, not SW. My friend has flown BDL-PHX for $108 round trip before taxes. It all depends on the time of year, and cities involved!

Thanks for the info; haven't made my mind up yet, it depends in which order I will visit these cities in; I'm still organizing the whole thing, but the general plan is to start off in Boston, and fly my way round the US's major cities, in a clockwise fashion.

As far as Islip goes, according to the WN website, the train to Penn station in NY (from Islip) takes about 1 hour 30. I don't actually mind flying into secondary airfields (I've done it enough times with Ryanair in Europe), and I particularly enjoy taking the train in the US-I had a great experience travelling from NYC to Boston last month.

The fare WN quoted me was US$103. I actually only want to go one-way, but the majors charge more for one-way only, so that is why I was initially asking for round-trip fares-I would simply throw away the return portion.

However, thankfully WN don't play that game, which is why I am probably going to stick with them.

However, I will bear the ORD-LGA option in mind, as I may be short of time nearer the end of the summer.

Thanks for all your inputs. This is going to be an unforgettable summer (barring delays & strikes by disgruntled employees! )

There is a fare of $145 one-way on ATA LGA-MDW Aug. 15. If you really wanted a low fare, AirTran has a one-stop flight LGA-PIT-MDW for $122.50 with tax. The flights you can take are flights 1501(To leave in the morning) and 1505(To leave in the Afternoon). Both flights are currently listed as the brand-new 717.

PS: Isn't NYC-MDW going counter-clockwise?

PPS: Don't forget my hometown of PHL! We have the Liberty Bell, Franklin Institute(If you are bringing any young ones), South Street(For a happening nightlife), Independence Hall, etc.

Actually, I'm after a one-way from the Chicago area to NY, as this will be one of the concluding segments I will take.

Plan is to go South along the Atlantic seaboard from BOS, via Philly (as you have mentioned), then Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago & then NY.

Those cities will be reached by air. I'm hoping to branch out from there, by ground transport (AMTRAK & Greyhound) to nearby cities (Dallas, Miami, Washingon, Las Vegas etc.)

I know it's expensive, but I've been saving up for this trip for a long time; I have some (scottish!!) relatives in Washington & Dallas in any case, and my parents are, of course, helping me out financially.

The AirTran deal doesn't look to bad, but I'm keen to try Southwest in any case!

I hope you like it here in Phoenix, I think you'll find it's a wonderful city. Also, If you enjoy flying on Southwest, I'm almost positive you can find a flight to Phoenix from any of their destinations. (PHX is their #1 city in the system) Have a nice trip!

Going to AZ in the summer... good luck to you! It is the best way to experience it. Phoenix is a good city, its my other home. But there is really only so much to do there. The Art Musuem is pretty good, you should go to a ballgame at BOB, but then otherwise get out of the city and see the variety that Arizona has to offer. It is a helluva lot more than just catcus and tumbleweed! If you are going to go anywhere outside of Phoenix you have to go to Sedona, make a stop at Montezuma Castle on the way up... and then spend a day in Flagstaff where it will be quite cool. I'd also reccomend coming down to Tucson, where coincedentially I live, and take it some of the great hiking we have down here in Southern Arizona and REALLY good Mexican food. Plus since you are an aviation enthusiaist make it out to the Pima Air Musuem at Davis-Monthan AFB.

Hopefully you will find cheap airfare to PHX.

Stop drop and roll will not save you in hell. --- seen on a church marque in rural Virginia

I'm off to Raleigh next week, flying Northwest all the way (other than the Pacific crossing-QF). On the way over, going to stop in Memphis for 2 days to catch up with friends there, and return.. from Raleigh to LAX. Total of $381.

Thats a little over $950NZ. A flight last week from Christchurch to Auckland return on Air New Zealand ran me $980NZ. To compare, that is a one hour flight each way.

Admittidly, they were in different classes.. however I booked both the same time ahead, I'm sure the CHC-AKL route is more conjested, and yes. there are some fares on Northwest that run up to the $1000US mark, however you get a lot more flying that that Air New Zealand 737 up to Auckland.

Fare like that with a 14 day advance are nothing to complain about, and that isn't a discount carrier. For price comparisons, not even bringing in the differences in cost of living which makes the airfare even more expensive than the US flight.

Apples to Oranges perhaps, but at the end of the day.. its all money we are trying to save (or your company is trying to save).

With a bit of luck and being suckered into airline restrictions (7, 14 day advance, Saturday stay, etc.) you can find decent fares pretty much anytime if you ask me. I can fly YYZ-LAX/SFO/SJC now for $200 US. That's a 5hr + flight we're talking about.

AirTran's deals are pretty good. And if you want business class, you can buy a coach ticket and upgrade to business class for $25 when you check in at the airport. And let me tell you, the business class in the 717 is not bad at all. It's one of the only low-fare airlines that offers business class, and to upgrade is not a bad price either. I haven't hade the chance to fly Southwest (the nearest airport they fly out of is 2 hours away), mainly because I always fly non-rev. Now if I actually had to buy a ticket to somewhere like the west coast, I'd fly AirTran to one of the cities Southwest flies to and hop on them from there.

When you drop by Seattle, welcome. We have a beautiful city here, The Puget Sound has a wealth of physical beauty with mountains and sea, as well as large fresh-water lakes.

There are three locations to see Boeing planes, fresh from the factory; At Renton Municipal Airport (RNT), near where I live and home to the narrow body manufacture facility; At Boeing Field (King County Airport, BFI), home of flight test and narrow body delivery; and at Everett (Snohomish County/Paine Field, PAE), home of widebody manufacture and Delivary.

The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, is a great museum, especially the "Red Barn" which has lots of old wooden airplane parts and tools. The Factory Tour at Everett is also a must-see for the airplane enthrusiast.

BTW, Captain Picard, I was also born in Angola, in Huambo Province near Lepi and Longonjo.

Firstly, Seattle was one of the very first cities on the "must see" list-as you mentioned, I'm after scenery (the Cascades, Puget Sound, Starbucks, Boeing , Mt.Olympus and, of course, Frasier.

Secondly, what a small world we live in! I haven't been out of Luanda really, and have been advised not to bother?! Huambo (in Huambo province) is allegedly a UNITA stronghold at the moment. Apparently the Portuguese set up shop there in 1913, and named it Nova Lisboa;amongst other things, it was set up as a major hub in the railway network they were setting up there, at the time (the Benguela railway).

I would love to "go explore", alas it's probably not a good idea at the moment. BTW, voce fala portugues?

I was born in Brazil, so "no worrys" as far as the local lingo is concerned.

I have many "saudades" for Angola, but my Portugese is not very good. I havn't spoken since 15, and I am almost 40 now. We fled Angola, not quite literally chased by UNITA rebels, and never went back. My dad's parents went to Angola as missionaries in 1932 and Angola was our true home, and it remain so, in our hearts.

Sometime when war ends, and mines are cleared, it would be great to visit central Angola again, but it would be very dangerous now, as I hear.

Glad to hear you are able to take a sweeping tour of the US. This is a great country, impressive in almost every way.